Machine for use in manufacturing shoes



Feb.19 1935. H. HALLAM 1,991,458

MACHINE FOR USE IN MANUFACTURING SHOES Filed April 21, 1952 Fig.1

r 41 I i i M L- '33 1; 7 I I Luna, firing. 3

Patented Feb. 19, 1935 STAES PATENT OFFICE Claims; (01. 51-439)Thisinvention relates to machines for use in manufacturing'shoes and'isherein disclosed as embodied in a machinefor grinding, to a desired ftheheel end to its heel seat portion, to bevel the marginal portion aroundthe lower edge of the insole at suchan angle that the curve of the backof the last and the contour of the edge of the ina sole are more or lesscontinuous. w Ordinaryleather insoles are usually trimmed to a desiredbevel by a rotary cutting tool. In the case of a rein- V forced insolethe beveling operation often takes place principally upon the layer ofreinforcing material, since the latter is secured to thatv side of theinsole which is further fromthe last bottom and may be of materialthicker than that of the remainder of the insole. When the reinforcingmaterial is relatively stiff and hard as-compared with leather, as isusually the case, it is found that trimming cutters which are capablewith objectionable frequency.

Itis, accordingly, an object of the present in-- vention to avoid thisdifficulty. As herein disclosed this is done by the provision of animproved abrading machine well adapted to use for grinding the edges ofsheet material such as soles and like articles to the desired beveledform.

r In accordance with a feature of the invention.

a Work guide, which extends substantially parallel to the axis of arotary abrading tool, i's'provided for engaging a face of a piece ofsheet materialfor determining the angular relation of the material tothe operating surface of the abrading tool'and a gage is positionedbetween the work guide'and the operating surface of the tool forengaging an edge portion of the sheet material for limiting the movementof the material toward the abrading tool thereby to limit the amount ofmaterial which can be removed from the edge. In the illustrated machinethe abrading tool is in the form 1 Wheel having a peripheral grindshoeat the heel endmay presents. smOothcon- H ti'nuous curve from the upperedge of the shoeat' ing surface, and supporting means is provided forthe work guide constructed and arranged for adjustment 'to' varythe'angular relation between the article tobeabraded and the operatingsurface of, the grinding wheel. The edge engaging member for limitingthe amount of material which can be abraded-from the workpiece consistsof a thin blade-like member extending toward the abrading. tool andterminating in an edge which is closely adjacent to the operatingsurface of the abrading tool. I 1

These and other features of the invention will be describedf'as embodiedin' an illustrated machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a view in frontelevation showing the head of the machine and 1 V a Fig. 2 isaviewinside elevation of thefparts seen in Fig. 1 looking from the,left. f 4

The frame of the illustrated machine comprises a vertical column 1havinga; head casting 3 at its upperendin which is supported ahorizontalshaft 5 extending from left to right of the oper ator as he stands infront of the machine. The;

horizontal shaft is provided with fixed and idler belt'6 in acounterclockwise direction as. viewed neighborhood of two thousand fivehundred revolutions' per minute. A grinding wheel 7 is secured totheleft hand end of the shaft tobe rotated thereby and is preferablyabout 7 in diameter by 3%" wide;

This grindinglwheel is preferably of relativelysoft composition and mayconveniently be a wheel manufactured by the Waltham Grinding'WheelCompany of' America having a softness identified by that company as ofthe grade 46H. 7 The wheel '7, regarded'as a trimming tool will have apath of action which coincideswith its operating surface, i. e. itsperiphery. A bracket 9 issecured to'the machine head andxextends closeto the grinding wheel 7 and has bolted to it a-circular dust collectinghood l1 enclosing the wheel 7. The hood 11 has an outlet openingin itsrear portion, from. which. outlet openingfa suction conduit 87 extendsdownwardly. The suction conduit 87 is connected to the usual exhaustblower (not shown) for disposing of dust which arises from the operationof the wheel '7 upon the work.

A short stationary sleeve Shaft 5 jisilocated between the right handside of in Fig. 2 and atia highspeed preferably 'in the 13 surroundingthe :guideway 37 by a clamping bolt 40. block 39 has a depending curvedmember 41 sethe dust collecting hood 11 and the left hand end of thehead 3 of the machine and is rigidly secured to the latter by a collar15 which is screwed to the head. A short bracket 17 is adjustablyclamped on the sleeve 13 close to the dust collecting hood 11 andextends upwardly and forwardly from the sleeve. This bracket 17 has aguide rib 19 formed on it which extends forwardly and rearwardly of theoperator and is inclined slightly downwards towards him. A carriermember 21 is mounted for adjustment along this guide rib and has a slot'23 formed in it through which passes a clamping bolt 25 engaging athreaded hole in the bracket .17. Thebracket also has a threaded hole27.for'med through it parallel to the said guide rib and just below it.A threaded stem 29 having ahand wheel 31at its rear end passes throughthe miss apen 21am carries collars 33 spaced apart near its front endwhich are secured to the threaded stem and receive between themadownwardlyextending lug 35 formed upon the carrier member 21 justrearwardof itsforwardend The forward end of the formed in its left handface in whichis secured a block 39 carrying a pair of work engagingmembers. Theblock 39 may be clamped in any desired position ofadjustment along the arcuate The said cured to it which member isbifurcatedto straddle the grinding wheel and is curved downwardly andforwardlyat its lowerend. To the extreme forward end of this portion issecured a work-sup portingtable 4 3 which,ismounted on a horizontalpivot' e.5 extending parallel to the shaft 5 of the machine. This worktable is relatively small beingaboutl fl in'length and in breadth and isurged in a forward .and .upward direction by a spring 4 7 whichfislocated in a housing in the ,c'furv'ed .member 511 and bears against theunderside ofthe table, faces on the forv'vardend of the curvedmemberjll'andon a portion of the table surrounding the pivot 45 limiting theupward movement "oflthe Ltable. The depending 1 member 41 arranged to beadjusted bodily forwardly and rearwardly of the machine by meansherein.- aftei" described vuntil the rear edge of the work table 43 liesclose "to the edge of the grinding wheel 7. The curved depending member.41 has alguideway 49 formed in'itwhich is located above the worksupporting table 13 and extends down- "wardly andrearwardly atrightangles tothe gen- .eralplane of the latter. A work positioning foot151' (abouthalf an inch wide) is located with freedom for adjustment inthe said guide and has a plainunderface which is arranged to lieparallel to the axis of the wheel 7 and to the general plane of theworktable 43 whenlthe latter is depressed somewhat against the action of thespring 47 and 1 fofth'e blade-like member projects a small extent(preferably 3 Qr thereabouts) beyond the lower face of the workpositioning member and lies almost in contact'with the periphery of thegrinding'wheel. The lowerend of this blade-like I nember is'reduced inthickness to a knife edge so whole thickness of the. insole (excludingthat small portion shielded by the projecting portion of the blade-likemember) will be operated upon by the grinding wheel.

The work table 43 and positioning foot 51 are so located vertically ofthe wheel that an insole supported on the side which is not reinforcedby the work table and engaged on its upper reinforced side by the footwill be presented to the ,periphery of the grinding wheel about 1 belowthe axis ofthe grinding wheel. When the table lies at an angle of about45 to the horizontal with the insole positioned between the table andthe foot the insole will lie in a plane which'is tilted downwardly abouttwenty-two degrees from a radial line drawn to the edge of the grindingwheel near the lower end of the blade- .l'ike member 53, and the actionof the grinding wheel on the insole will produce on the edge of thelatter a bevel extending at about 22 to a line drawn perpendicularly tothe reinforced iace of the insole the said bevel extending from thelower face of the insole almost, but not. quite, to its upper face. Byadjusting the block 39 aforesaid along the curved guideway 37 the angleat which I the work table lies relatively to the horizontal .can bevaried. This curved guideway is concentric about the lower end of theblade-like member 53 when the latter projects about 5 below the lowerface of thework positioning foot, so that.

movement of the block along the guideway will not disturb the closenessof the foot to the periphery of the grinding wheel. The angle throughwhich the curved guideway 37 extends is such that by moving the blockalong the curved guideway the angle of bevel produced on the insole maybe varied between limits of 11 to a line drawn perpendicularly to thereinforced face of the insole and 31 to that line.

As the grinding wheel 7 wears away the work table l3 the foot 51 may bekeptclose up against the periphery of the latter by rotating thethreaded stem 29 aforesaid. to cause the work'table and the workpositioning foot to move bodily towards the grinding wheel along a pathparallel to the axis of the threaded stem' 29.

In the normal operation of the machine, the operator stands infront ofthe machine as seen in Fig. 1 and inserts a reinforcedinsole I with thereinforced side Rdownwards, between the springsupported work supportingtable 43 and the work positioning foot 51 which will thereupon cooperateto grip the in ole lightly between them. The operator then moves theinsole between the table and the work-engagingfoot so that the toewardend of the reinforcing material at one side of the waist of the insoleis opposite the periphery of the grinding wheel. He then pushes theinsole rearwardly towards the periphery of the wheel until the insolecontacts with the lower end of the blade-like member 53. The grindingwheel will then commence to bevel oh" the lower edge of the insole andreinforcing layer at the desired angle and the operator then graduallymoves the insole endwise along between the work table and positioningfoot, while still urging the insole against the wheel, to cause thebeveling operation to proceed towards the heel end of the insole. Whenhe reaches the heel end, he swings the insole gradually around throughabout one hundred and eighty degrees while still maintaining the insolepressed against the wheel, thus causing the bevelling operation to becarried out around the heel end of the insole. After the bevoilingoperadon has been efiected around the heel endthe operator movestheinsole lengthwise once more-in the oppositedirectionto that in wh-iehhe previously moved it and thus causes the beVelli-ng operation to becontinued along the remaining side of the insoleuntil it hascompletely-bevelled thereinforced portion of the insole.

In order to prevent the surface of the grinding wheel from becomingglazed'by its grinding action on insoles a dressing wheel 55 is providedwhich can be lowered into contact with the periphery ofthe wheel andserves by pressing on the latter to keep its surface rough. Thisdressing wheel 55; comprises a number of corrugated steel discs mountedside by side ona pin 57 whichi's secured in the rear'end of a rocker arm59 which is housed inside the dust hood 11 and is secured at its forwardend to a freely rotatable shaft or pivot 61 which extends through theleft hand side of the dust hood surrounding the wheel. A spring 63 issecured at one end to the arm 59 which carries the dressing wheel and atthe other end to a hook on the dust hood and tends to pull the dressingwheel down on to the periphery-of the grinding wheel. A hand lever 65 isfreely mounted on the pivot 61 for the arm 59 on the outside of the dusthood and has a pin 67 se- 1 cured to it close to the pivot which pinextends towards the left. A cap member 69 is secured'to the extreme lefthand end of the pivot 61 and has an arcuate slot '71 formed in it intowhich slot extends the pin 67 secured to the hand lever 65. A spring'73, which is stronger than the spring 63 which is connected to the arm59 carrying the dressing wheel, is secured to the hand lever 65 andtends to pull the latter rearwardly so that the pin 67 secured to thehand lever presses against the rearward end of. the slot '71 formed inthe cap member ,69 and thus lifts thelink 59 carrying the dressing wheelaway from the grinding wheel. By pulling the hand lever 65 forwardlyagainst the action of the spring 73 the pin 67 can 1 be retracted fromthe rearward end of theslot 71, thereby enabling the spring 7 3 to pressthe dressing tool against the grinding wheel; It will be noted that thepressure of the dressing tool against the grinding wheel is not derivedfrom the lever 65 but from the spring 63 and is accordinglypredetermined. If, however, a greater pressure is desired, the operatorcan pull the' carries the pivot filfor the link 59 is formed as a door77 which is secured to the dust hood on a vertical pivot pin 79 near toits rear side. A thumb screw 81 normally holds the door 77 clamped inclosed position but by release of the thumb screw the door can be swungopen and the grinding wheel can be easily seen and reached. Furthermorewhen the door is open the dressing tool and its associated mechanism arealso accessible.

The above-described dressing tool, together with its operatingmechanism, is not claimed herein, but constitutes the subject-matter ofmy copending application Serial No. 728,146, filed May 29, 1934, whichis a division of the presentvv application.

In order to prevent excessive accumulation of leather dust in the bottomof the dust hood from fouling the grinding wheela pocket 82 having anopening- 83 is formed inthe dust hoodbelow the axis of the grindingwheel which openingis connected by a pipe85 to the air exhausting ductS'T'which communicates with the hood 11 itself.

A butterfly valve 89 is located in the pipe 85 just below the bottomof-the dust hood and, under the'influence of .a spring 91, normallycloses the pipe andformsa wall against 'whichthe' leather dustcanaccumulate. The operator can however when he so desires open thebutterfly valve and. allow the air suction to draw away the leatherdust. I

Byadjusting the bracket 17 around the sleeve ing foot can be raisedorlowered around the peripheryofthe wheel to give the most convenientworking position for the operator.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the Unitedstates is:

1. A machine for beveling the edges of soles and like articlescomprising an abrading tool having a peripheraloperating. surface, awork guide engageable with a face of a sole for determining the angularrelation of the sole with respect to the periphery of said abradingtool, means for limiting the approach of thesole toward the peripheryofsaid tool thereby to limit the amount of materialwhich can be abradedfrom the edge of the'sole, and supporting means for said workguide'constructed and arranged for adjustment to vary the. angularrelation between the sole and the operating'surface of said abradingtool'while maintaining substantially constant the relation betweensaidapproachlimiting means and said abrading tool.

2. A machine'for abrading the edges of soles and like articlescomprising a rotary abrading tool, a work guide having'an operatingsurface substantially parallel to the; axis of said abrading tool andextending closeto the operating surface. r

of said abrading tool and engageable witha face of a sole forpositioning the sole in a desired relation to the operating surface ofsaid tool, and a gage positioned between'said work guide and theoperating surface of said tool for'engagi'ng a portion of the edge ofthe sole to limit the amount of material which can be abraded from thesole.

. 3. A machine for abrading the edges of soles and likearticlescomprising a rotary abrading 'tool, a work guide having anoperating surface substantially parallel to the axis of said abradingtool and extending close to the operating surface of said abrading tooland engageable with a face of a sole for positioning the sole in a'desired relation to the operating surface of said tool, and a gage inthe form of a thinblade-like member positioned between said work guideand the operating surface of said tool for engaging a portion of theedge of the sole to limit the amount of material which-can be abradedfrom the sole,

saidgage extending toward the abrading tool and terminating in an edgewhich is closely adja-- cent to the operating surface of the abradingtool.

4. A machine for abrading the edges of soles and like articlescomprising an abrading tool, a

work guide engageable with a face of a sole to be abraded fordetermining the angular position -material which can be abraded from thesole,

said gage terminating in an edge which is closely adjacent to theoperating surface of said abrading tool, and a support for said workguide and said gage constructed and arranged to enable said work guideto be adjusted angularly in relation to the abrading surface of saidtool-about an axis which coincides substantially with said terminatingedge of said gage thereby enabling such adjustment to be effectedWithout varying the position of the terminating edge of said gagerelatively to the operating surface of said abrading tool. a

5. A machine for abrading the edges of soles and like articlescomprising an abrading wheel having a cylindrical operating surface, awork guide engageable with a face of a sole to be abraded fordetermining the angular relation of the sole with respect to theoperating surface of said abrading tool, means for limiting the approachof the edge of the sole toward said abrading tool to limit the amount ofmaterial which can be abraded therefrom, and supporting means for saidwork guide and said work gage constructed and arranged for adjustmentabout the axis of said abrading tool whereby the position of said workguide and said gage can be varied for the convenience of the operatorwithout altering the angular position of presentation of the sole inrelation to the operating surface of said tool.

HARRY HALLAM. 15

